With Versus back on DirecTV, White says outage "not going to happen again"

With Versus back on DirecTV, White says outage "not going to happen again"

DirecTV subscribers forced to survive for months without access to the WEC’s Versus-broadcast cards rejoiced when the cable television network was able to strike a deal with the satellite television provider in time for this past weekend’s UFC on Versus 1 event.

While exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, White said he was thrilled that the Zuffa, LLC sister-promotions of UFC and WEC were once again available to DirecTV subscribers.

White also promised that the channel wouldn’t be forced to endure another outage in the future.

“[The new deal] is big – huge,” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “You have to have it. It was not good not having us on there. It got done, and we couldn’t be happier.

“It’s not going to happen again.”

DirecTV, which boasts approximately 18 million subscribers, dropped Versus on Sept. 1, 2009 following a dispute over carrier fees. While WEC officials remained confident the dispute would be resolved – even as five different live WEC events went un-aired on DirecTV – a new deal was completed just in time for this past weekend’s UFC on Versus 1 event.

While many MMA observers have pointed toward Versus’ contract with the UFC, which calls for two live events in 2010, as a driving force between the channel and DirecTV reaching an agreement, White refused to take credit for the deal.

“However it got done, I’m just happy it did,” White said. “That’s all I care about.”

Following Sunday night’s debut UFC on Versus event, Versus president Jamie Davis, who was in attendance for the card in Broomfield, Colo., said his company was thrilled with the UFC’s initial effort.

“I just want to say how excited we are,” Davis said. “This was our first UFC fight to be broadcast on Versus, and it was the first time ever that the UFC has been broadcast on a national sports cable network, so we couldn’t have been more excited.

“I actually just want to thank Dana and thank everybody from the UFC, including [the fighters] for putting on a fantastic show. You guys gave us a pay-per-view card. We couldn’t have started out any better.”